


Don't Fall In Love: You'll Fail Your Exams

by lesbianoodle



Series: NepreziWeek 2K16 [3]
Category: Homestuck
Genre: Alternate Universe - Boarding School, Alternate Universe - Dance, Closeted Character, F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-04
Updated: 2016-08-04
Packaged: 2018-07-29 09:16:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,716
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7678831
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lesbianoodle/pseuds/lesbianoodle
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"So not ready." You tell her. </p><p>"Me neither." She says.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Don't Fall In Love: You'll Fail Your Exams

Your name is Terezi Pyrope and you're standing in front of the mirror, studying your reflection as well as you can in the mirror. Your eyesight is way beyond sucking and you don't look like more than a smudge of dark skin and bright clothes. That's the way you like to see yourself. A smudge of colour on the canvas that is the universe. 

"Jeez, you're performing a duet with her, not taking her out to the dinner." You can hear the smile in Feferi's voice. She's your dorm mate and she's been sitting patiently on her bed and painting her toenails, waiting for the mirror so she can straight the curls out of her hair. You're suddenly aware that you're hogging the mirror. You step away. 

"I just want a good grade. Do I look okay to you?" You ask her, since her eyesight is slightly better than yours. At least, hers can be fixed with thick glasses or contacts. Yours can only be fixed with surgery that you can't afford to get. 

"You look fintastic!" says your dorm mate, with her usual fondness for fish puns, "Focus on the dance. Focus on her. Don't focus on yourshelf or you'll trip over your feet." 

She's right... Of course, Feferi's right. You pin up the stray hairs that have escaped the bun you've somehow managed to scrape your short hair into and sling your backpack over one shoulder, smoothing your shirt down one last time. Then, you tell Feferi you'll meet her for coffee this afternoon and leave the dorm.

You should explain your circumstances a little more while you're walking to the Studio. 

Your name is Terezi Pyrope and you're a dancer- a contemporary dancer, despite your curvy figure and the way your stomach rolls like soft waves. You attend a pretty prestigious school for acting, dance, and singing. Originally, you came here because you wanted to act. But it turns out your raspy voice can be endearing, so you're training to be a triple threat. One day, you're going to sell out shows across the country. But first, you have to pass dance.

Dance is something you're struggling with, so you got assigned a super good duet partner to work with over the semester. Now, it's exam time and you've got to perform in front of a room of people who will grade you on how well you do. You've already failed your solo dance exam, you're pretty sure, but you're confident you can pass this duet. Though, it's nothing to do with how good you are- you suck- but how flawless your partner is. 

Nepeta Leijon... She's like a ray of dancing sunshine. She dances in ways you never could. 

You met her early in the year, after you came back from vacation, and she seemed nice enough. She was kind, pretty (Feferi told you), and could turn more pirouettes than anybody you've ever seen. She spins so fast that you can't even see her moving. She's partially a contemporary dancer like you but she also does a lot of hip-hop and it pays off. She's strong. On the first day you met, she proved this by lifting you over her head and catching you easily. 

She's a big roleplayer, online and IRL, and always wears these blue smudges in her hair that Feferi told you are cat ears. You're not even sure if you can handle how cute that is. To show her you're on the same level, you've been wearing your dragon hoodie constantly and she loves it. 

You should mention something else about Nepeta Leijon: you're totally dating her. 

Not that you've told Feferi or any of your friends that, of course, because Nepeta is still closeted. She has an older brother called Equius that she's worried will disapprove of her. You offered to kick his ass. She said she could do that herself but she doesn't want to. She doesn't want to upset him. So, until she's brave enough to tell him what's going on, you're just her friend. Her close friend. That she makes out with sometimes. 

"Pyrope!" Somebody calls and you recognise the rough voice, "Pyrope, wait up!" 

A familiar colour catches up you. "Hey, Karkles. Ready for your duet?"

It's not just your exam today and your worst enemy/best friend/angry blogger Karkat Vantas is due to take the stage with his partner after you and Nepeta have failed horribly- ahem, finished your exam. It's strange to imagine somebody as loud and angry as Karkat being delicate enough to be a ballet dancer. But his attention to detail pays off apparently. You have been friends/enemies ever since the first day here, when you tripped him in the corridor. 

"Fuck no." Karkat says, sounding more nervous than you've ever heard him, "Have you seen the idiot I got as partner? ... Oh shit, I guess you haven't. But Captor's only here because his parents bullied him into it and he just wants to be some kind of self-deprecating comedian, not a dancer. His self-esteem is lower than your seat in hell." 

"You're not going to pass either, then." Terezi says, a little hopefully, "Maybe I'll tell my mom that everybody failed because partners were randomly assigned." 

"Or you could tell her that you failed because you spent the whole time making out with your partner instead of actually getting any work done." Karkat says, sarcastically. He's the only on that knows because he caught you out in town one day and his gaydar is apparently on point. Also, you were kissing Nepeta on a park bench and that may have given away the game a little. But Karkat's cool. He's the king of the closet, so he doesn't question Nepeta's decisions. 

"Shut up, like you aren't in love with Captor." You say, as the two of you enter the studio building and pass at a junction in the corridor, "We all know that you only tolerate him because you think his weird personality is cute."

"No, I think he's infuriating but anger tends to be closely linked with passion. It's called hate-dating, dipshit, look it up." Karkat is always telling you these things. You don't believe him. He's soft as all hell underneath his spiky exterior and pretty pathetic sometimes if what Sollux tells you is anything to go by. Karkat should be an actor, not a dancer.

"Good luck with your exams!" You call, heading in the opposite direction. He's going to practice early this morning with Sollux apparently, though you're not sure how much work they'll get done. You guess there's a reason you don't shit where you eat. 

Though, you love spending time with Nepeta. 

When Feferi is out with her friends, Nepeta sneaks into your dorm and the two of you just hang out together. It's exactly like having a best friend- you read comics, you LARP, you play computer games, you practise for your exams- but with a whole lot more making out. You sing for her and she cuts you off with kisses, sliding onto your lap and wrapping her arms tightly around your neck like you'll disappear if she lets go. 

You go out together during the days, sneaking into the nearby town whenever you have free periods and hanging out together like a real couple. It's rare to see anyone you know there because all your friends are very much indoor people. The two of you like to roleplay in the park, much to the delight of children who are at the nearby playground. You find that you sometimes get audience of small faces looking at you.

That really makes Nepeta smile and if you're close enough, you can almost see it. You bet she's more beautiful than ever when she smiles at people.

As you approach the studio room, you spot her hanging out by the entrance, fiddling with the strap of her messenger bag and looking as jittery as most people do during exam week. Your heart beats hard in your chest. You have to remind yourself to suck air in as you approach her, almost holding your breath. 

"Hi!" You say, too loudly, and she leaps on you. 

She's so much taller than you that the pair of you almost go tumbling to the ground. You manage to recover, swinging her around once before putting her down on the ground. She's wearing a long jacket over her dance gear, almost burying herself in it. 

"Hey." She says, looking at you with a very pink face, "I nearly puked this morning thinking about this." 

"Did you eat the tacos the cafeteria sold yesterday? Because that might be the reason."

She laughs like you're funny and not disgusting. Something inside you lights up until your organs are glowing as bright as New York at nighttime. 

"Hold on." She leans in and brushes a loose strand of hair back behind your ear; the feeling of her fingers grazing the side of your face almost sets your skin on fire, "Okay, now you look perfect. Are you ready?"

"So not ready." You tell her. 

"Me neither." She says. 

The two of you exhale.

Staring at her now, you can imagine still dating her years from now, after all the exams are over and you're out living in the real world. You can't wait for exams to be over, so that the summer can finally arrive and you can take her to carnivals and festivals. She wants to take you to meet her parents, maybe introduce you as her girlfriend or just her friend. She's not sure yet. Either way, you're going to try and spend most of the summer together in the city you never knew you shared, 

She makes a nervous-excited sort of noise and settles for just gripping your hand tightly, the wool of her gloves pressing into the soft flesh of your hand. She needs to get ready for the exam but you've got an hour, you're both here so early, so there's no rush at all. For now, you just want to spend time with her and hold her hand and talk about nonsense and pray to God that you don't fail this exam because you love her and want to dance well with her.


End file.
